Creating America’s most iconic shape: Texas!

Published 7:30 pm, Thursday, March 28, 2013

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New map of the state of Texas.

New map of the state of Texas.

Creating America’s most iconic shape: Texas!

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How on earth did Texas get into the shape it’s in? The 13th annual Battle of San Jacinto Symposium will answer that question on Saturday, April 13, at the Hilton University of Houston Hotel & Conference Center, in Houston, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The theme this year is Wars, Treaties and Boundaries - A Look at the Shape of Texas. A number of treaties and acts before and after the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto had a hand in drawing the boundaries of this uniquely shaped piece of real estate we call Texas. Four eminent scholars will discuss these documents -- from the Adams-Onis Treaty of 1819 to the Compromise of 1850.

Speakers include: Gene Allen Smith, PhD, professor of history and director of the Center for Texas Studies at Texas Christian University; Jerry Thompson, PhD, regents professor of history at Texas A&M International University in Laredo and recipient of the A&M System’s 2010 Chancellor’s Teaching Award; Mark J. Stegmaier, PhD, professor of history at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma; and Manuel González Oropeza, PhD, professor and supervisor of the Graduate School of Law at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and a judge of the Supreme Court for Elections in Mexico since 2006. James E. Crisp, PhD, professor of history at North Carolina State University, returns as moderator.

The $55 fee includes speakers, lunch, parking, exhibits, book dealers and fellowship with Texas history scholars and buffs. The Symposium offers six Certified Professional Education credits for teachers. It is presented by the San Jacinto Battleground Conservancy, in cooperation with the Texas State Historical Association, the Center for the Study of the Southwest at Texas State University - San Marcos, and the Texas Map Society.